Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: biotech/medical – Page 434

Key phospholipid points to potential treatment for vascular dementia

A possible new treatment for impaired brain blood flow and related dementias is on the horizon. Research by scientists at the University of Vermont Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine provides novel insights into the mechanisms that regulate brain blood flow and highlights a potential therapeutic strategy to correct vascular dysfunction.

Their preclinical findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that adding a missing phospholipid back into a person’s circulatory system could restore normal brain blood flow and reduce symptoms of dementia.

“This discovery is a huge step forward in our efforts to prevent dementia and neurovascular diseases,” says principal investigator Osama Harraz, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology at Larner College of Medicine.

Abstract: How can we improve the radiotherapy response?

Chao Wan & team show the mechanism by which gamma delta T cells mediate radioresistance, highlighting IL-17 signaling & CCL20 as potential targets for enhancing radiosensitivity:

The figure reflects tumor growth and survival for lung cancer-bearing mice.

1Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College and.

2Institute of Radiation Oncology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

3Hubei Key Laboratory of Precision Radiation Oncology, Wuhan, China.

Protein MCL1 links cancer cell survival and energy metabolism

A study by the Mildred Scheel Early Career Center group led by Dr. Mohamed Elgendy at the TUD Faculty of Medicine provides fundamental insights into cancer biology. Published in Nature Communications, the study shows for the first time that the protein MCL1 not only inhibits programmed cell death, but also plays a central role in tumor metabolism.

The researchers have succeeded in tracing two classic hallmarks of cancer—the evasion of apoptosis (a form of programmed cell death) and the dysregulation of energy metabolism—back to a common molecular mechanism.

The study focuses on the protein MCL1, which is strongly overexpressed in many tumor types and has previously been considered primarily an anti-apoptotic factor of the Bcl-2 protein family.

How an antiviral defense mechanism may lead to Alzheimer’s disease

One of the main proteins that contributes to Alzheimer’s disease is called phospho-tau (p-tau). When p-tau gets too many phosphate groups attached to it (a process called hyperphosphorylation), it starts to stick together and form clumps called “tangles” inside of brain nerve cells.

A new study by Mass General Brigham investigators shows that tau hyperphosphorylation may be a consequence of an antiviral response that protects the brain from infection. Results are published in Nature Neuroscience.

“As a geneticist, I always wondered why humans had evolved gene mutations predisposing to Alzheimer’s disease,” said senior author Rudolph Tanzi, Ph.D., Director of the McCance Center for Brain Health and Genetics and Aging Research Unit in the Mass General Brigham Department of Neurology.

Inflammation fuels one of the most aggressive forms of lung cancer

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is one of the most aggressive forms of lung cancer, with a five-year survival rate of only 5%. Despite this poor prognosis, SCLC is initially highly responsive to chemotherapy. However, patients typically relapse and experience very rapid disease progression. Current research into the biological mechanisms behind SCLC remains essential in order to prolong treatment responses, overcome relapse and, ultimately, improve long-term patient outcomes.

A research team led by Professor Dr. Silvia von Karstedt (Translational Genomics, CECAD Cluster of Excellence on Aging Research, and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne—CMMC) has discovered a novel mechanism used by this type of cancer that helps explain its aggressive nature. The study titled “Lack of Caspase 8 Directs Neuronal Progenitor-like reprogramming and Small Cell Lung Cancer Progression” is published in Nature Communications.

Promising new superconducting material discovered with the help of AI

Tohoku University and Fujitsu Limited have successfully used AI to derive new insights into the superconductivity mechanism of a new superconducting material.

Their findings demonstrate an important use case for AI technology in new materials development and suggest that the technology has the potential to accelerate research and development. This could drive innovation in various industries such as the environment and energy, drug discovery and health care, and electronic devices.

The AI technology was used to automatically clarify causal relationships from measurement data obtained at NanoTerasu Synchrotron Light Source. This achievement was published in Scientific Reports.

Signature neural patterns may help predict recovery from traumatic brain injury

After traumatic brain injury (TBI), some patients may recover completely, while others retain severe disabilities. Accurately evaluating prognosis is challenging in patients on life-sustaining therapy.

Though resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) can assess neurological activity shortly after brain injury, it is unknown whether communication across brain regions at this early juncture predicts long-term recovery.

/* */